Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1940 )

. Hon.-Homer Garrison, Jr., Director,~Department of Public Safety Austin, Texas Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-1758 9.3: S.B.;427, regular session 46%h Legislature, 1939,-- General Appropriation Bill-- Department of Public Safety Items 1 and 2 Maintenance and Klscellaneous..~. This will acknowle~dgereceipt of your letter of December 5, 1939, prepounding to this department for a legal opinion the following queatlons: "Would this Department be authorized to expend portions of Item 2 in each of these instances for the purchase of motor equipment supplies consisting of fuel and lubricants and to expend por- tions of the amounts provided for Item 2 in each instance for labor involved in lubricatlng,Department motor vehicles?" 'The classifications of expenditures for the License and Xeight Division under 'Maintenance and Miscellaneous! are as follows: Gll. 'Travel& Transportation expenses, automobile maintenance. . . . . . . .~. . . . . . . . . . .~17,300.00 2. Motor equipment, parts, supplies, fixtures, other equipment and supplies, printing, stationery, telegraph, telephone, rentals, teletypewriters, express, freight, postage, repairs, maintenance, hospitalization and medical services when injured in line of duty, funeral expenses when deathresults from injuries inourred in line of duty, surety bonds, loademeters, radios, first aid supplies and all other necessary expenses. . . . . . . . )ll,l~O.OO "The dlassiflcations of expenditures for the Texas Highway Patrol under 'Maintenance and Miscellaneous' are as.follows: Hon. Homer Garrison, Jr. - Page 2 O-1758 1('1. Travel and transportation expense, automobile maintenance. $53,000.00 2. Motor equipment, parts, supplies, fixtures, other equipment and supplies, printing, stationary, telephone, telegraph, rentals, teletypewriters, express, freight, postage, repairs, maintenance, hospitalization and medical services when injured in line of duty, funeral expenses when death results from injuries incurred in line of duty, surety bonds, uniforms,belts, scabbards, badges, arms and ammunitions, loademeters, radios, first aid supplies, contingent expenses and all other reasonable and necessary expenses, including maintenance, labor, equipment and expenses of operating a training school for patrolmen. . . . . . .$133,000.00 "The classifications of expenditures for the Drivers License Division under 'Maintenance and Miscellaneous! are as follows: "'1. Travel and transportation expense, automobile main- tenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .)23,000.00 2. Motor equipment, parts supplies, fixtures, other equipment and supplies, printing, stationery, telephone, telegraph, rentals, express, freight, postage, repairs, main- tenance, hospitalization and medical services when injured in line of duty and funeral expenses when death results from injuries received in line of duty, surety bonds, uniforms, belts, scabbards, badges, arms, ammunition, radios, firstald supplies, contingent expenses, and all other reasonable and necessary expenses, including equipment and expense of operating training school for examiners. . . . . . . .$4l,2OO,OO." We construe your question as asking whether or not the expense for purchase of motor equipment supplies, consisting Of fuel and lubricants, and the labor incident thereto, for the lubricating of department motor vehicles may be taken from Item 2 of these Maintenance and Miscellaneous appropriations rather than from Item 1. As thus construed, we are of the opinion the question should Hon. Homer Garrison, Jr., Page 3, o-1758 be answered in the affirmative. Fuel, lubricants and labor incident to their use in connection with department motor vehicles, is more specifically embraced in Item 2 than in Item 1 of the appropriation. The only language of Item 1 that could possibly embrace such expenses is 'automobile maintenance;" while Item 2 mentions such things as "supplies.n The expense items mentioned by you are more reasonably contemplated by the mobile maintenance" of Item 1. FFom this we deduce the inference that the Legislature. intended such items of expense, as mentioned by you, to be paid from Item 2 rather than Item 1. Very truly yours ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS s/ Ocie Speer BY OS-MR/cg Ocie Speer Assigtant APPROVEDDEC. 11, 1939 s[.Gerald Ct lknn ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS APPROVED OPINION COiWdIIl'EE By BWB, Chairman